India raises concern over Russian attack copter sale to Pakistan

India on Thursday raised its concerns over Russia’s move to sell its Mi35 attack helicopters to Pakistan. The issue was raised by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her meeting with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry O Rogozin.

Russia, which supplies 60 per cent of India’s arms imports, had last week spoken about its willingness to supply the attack helicopters to Islamabad. “The question regarding our defence cooperation and any issues that impact this in terms of our concern were raised,” an MEA spokesperson said.

Last week, Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Dedov has announced a possible sale of the attack helicopters. “Pakistan has expressed its interest in buying MI-35 helicopters and we have shown our willingness to provide them,” he had said.